One Piece King of Artist Sanji Figure Up for Order! Banpresto

I’ve been talking a lot lately about spectacular One Piece figures that have already been released by Banpresto, but tonight I’m going to turn the spotlight on one that hasn’t yet been released. Sanji hasn’t exactly been relevant in the One Piece anime for the last year or more, but fans thirsting for new Sanji merch will soon have their needs met: the impressive 10″ Banpresto King of Artist Sanji figure is now available for order!

Sanji fans didn’t exactly have a grand ol’ time during the Dressrosa arc of One Piece, as Sanji (and Brook and Nami and Chopper) were written out halfway through the story. I mean, Oda-sensei had to pare down the cast to make space for more pages about Hajrudin somehow, right…?

Regardless, Sanji has made his grandiose reappearance in the One Piece manga already, and will be doing so in the anime soon enough. And what better way to celebrate the return of Sanji than with his first figure in one of the hottest lines around: the Banpresto One Piece King of Artist series?

The King of Artist figure series has previously included top characters such as Portgas D. Ace, Trafalgar Law and Monkey D. Luffy, and now Banpresto has set their sights on the Mugiwaras’ cook and ladies’ man himself, Sanji! And though I always like Sanji in action-oriented kicking poses, there’s no question in my mind that if there’s only going to be one KoA version of Sanji, this casual pose is definitely the iconic one to use for it!

The official solicitation info for this King of Artist Sanji figure is as follows:

“Continuing with one of Banpresto’s more recent highly celebrated collections, the King of Artist Series, comes Sanji, one of the coolest cast members from the super popular anime One Piece! Standing at a towering 10-inches tall, Sanji’s figure design captures a moment of the hero silently pondering his thoughts while having a smoke.”

While a hero character smoking a cigarette certainly would never be permitted in toy stores in the United States, thankfully Japan has no problems with making such a statue a reality!

While there haven’t been very many close-up images available of this Sanji figure, I knew as soon as I saw it that this Banpresto Sanji figurine would be joining my collection–especially at a very affordable price for such a large (about 10 inches tall!) figure!

What do you think of the next release in the King of Artist One Piece series? Have you purchased any of the previous King of Artist series figures, and are you planning on adding this latest release of the Straw Hat Pirates’ chef to your collection this year?